Summary
This investigation represents an attempt to illustrate some important aspects of the general circulation and the interrelation of seasonal atmospheric variations between northern and southern hemispheres. It presents evidence that the winter circulation of the northern hemisphere has a significant influence on subsequent seasons in the southern hemisphere. The idea is backed up by specific examples, showing that winter rainfall at Malta and Cairo is strongly correlated with the subsequent seasonal rainfall in Zimbabwe. These findings, which potentially allow to forecast Zimbabwe rainfalls several months in advance of the rainy season, are interpreted physically in terms of the variations of major features of the general circulation, such as the strength of the Winter Siberian Anticyclone (WSA) and the El-Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO). These two features appear to be related, from the point of view that the forecasting techniques of the study also allow the possibility of predicting the outstanding ENSO events several months before January.
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Ismail, S.A. The interrelation between the two hemispheres and long-range forecasting. Theor Appl Climatol 41, 201–211 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00866451
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00866451